In various types of robotic mechanisms, remote control is achieved via a fiber optic cable. In one application a robotic vehicle is remotely controlled from a control station via fiber optic cable. There must be a spool of fiber optic cable which pays out the cable as the vehicle moves away from the control station. Since the paid-out cable may snag on something resting on the ground, it is conceivable that the cable will break. When the vehicle is retrieved, a repair must be made to the broken cable. It is possible to fuse together the broken glass fiber core by means of conventional fusible splicing. However, since the fiber optics are fragile, it is necessary to rejacket the splice area after the broken ends are spliced together. Prior to the present invention, the conventional method for rejacketing the fiber has been with a hard tube that is typically two inches long and which is epoxied into place over the splice area. This method does not operate satisfactorily where a spool pays out a cable due to the fact that the hard tube cannot conform with the circumference of the spool. Further, the tube cannot pass through the fiber optic cable spool pay-out mechanism.